Not exactly game-related but as there's an Indy 4 thread here I think it qualifies.

Over on TheRaider.net's message boards a few days back someone posted that in a recent HD airing of Raiders of the Lost Ark on US TV, there was an all-new CGI shot during the truck chase sequence. Yesterday evening I taped a repeat showing and confirmed the original poster's claim.

In the original film, at one point Indy swerves the truck and knocks a Nazi troop car off a cliff to its doom far, far below. The shot was done with a rather fake-looking matte painting and models of the car and soldiers:

However, the shot as seen on TV features entirely redone CG scenery. Apologies that these are photos but my PC and TV aren't in the same room.

Also of interest is this text from the 1995 book, From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives by Mark Cotta Vaz and Shinji Hata, describing the old version of the shot:

Quote:

"One of the greatest chases ever filmed is the truck chase in which Indy pursues Nazis who are making their getaway with the Ark. The sequence intercut both live-action stunt work and ILM's visual effects magic. A key ILM shot had Indy drive a Nazi jeep off a cliff, an effect executed with a matte painting of the cliff's sheer drop in which opticals composited separate elements of a miniature jeep and puppets. Longtime ILMer John Ellis points to the shot as a signature example of Lucas's understanding of his audience, explaining that when Lucas viewed the shot in dailies he told his team to print it, despite a chorus of concerns that there was still work to be done--color timings, additional painting details, some work on the matte lines. But Lucas instinctively knew the shot couldn't be improved upon and that audiences would cheer it in the theaters."

Make of this what you will.

It's worth noting that the new DVD set doesn't have the new shot in Raiders, but you can bet money it'll be in any future HD re-releases.

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Weird, especially considering Spielberg supposedly has an affinity for the fake-looking matte shots in retrospect. There was even a Crystal Skull interview in which he claimed that he entertained the notion of making the matte backgrounds in Indy4 look intentionally bad just to give it an 80s charm before deciding against it.

I don't know, I think Lucas was right - who cared about that effects shot? I don't think it meant he thought the audience would literally stand up and applaud, just that they'd be so into the action of the scene that they'd be psyched when the truck went off the cliff. What I mean to say is, the effects shot doesn't affect your suspension of disbelief.

Oh, it's definitely redone. Look at the mountains on the left in the first image of each version - they're entirely different. Plus, when you see it in motion, the original painting is clearly flat, while in the new shot the cliff moves in 3D.

Oh, it's definitely redone. Look at the mountains on the left in the first image of each version - they're entirely different. Plus, when you see it in motion, the original painting is clearly flat, while in the new shot the cliff moves in 3D.